When I first heard the Arabic language I was mesmerised; the lyric and flow, the seemingly impossible sounds that rolled off the tongue. I wanted to speak that language!
When I first saw the Arabic script I was amazed; the cursive, joined up letters and the funny squiggles and dots. I wanted to write like that!
When I first felt Arabic it was in a dream; I was speaking fluently and had taken on the exaggerated behaviour and expressive hand and body language which seem so integral to the language. I wanted to be able to do that in real life!
So where did the Arabic language come from and why does it have such a great impact on me?
There is a wealth of information online regarding the technical aspects of the Arabic language. Much of it goes into great depth about its phonology and grammar. That’s also something Creative Word’s expert team of Arabic Translators can help you with. My series of three articles will instead look at the history from a cultural point of view from pre-Islamic Arabic, to Classical Arabic and finishing with Modern Standard Arabic.
Arabic comes from the Semitic Group of Languages
The Semitic group of languages is a subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic languages that includes Arabic, Hebrew, Maltese and Aramaic. The Arabic greeting “Assalaamu Alaikum – peace be upon you” is very similar across some of the languages in the group:
- Hebrew – “Shalom aleikhem” the language of Jewish people
- Maltese – “Sliem halikhom” used by Maltese Catholics
- Aramaic – “Shlama alekhun” spoken by small communities in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and Iran
Speakers of these languages tend to believe they descend from Shem who was one of the sons of Noah (Nuh in Arabic). Arabic is a language inextricably steeped in history.
The Language of Pre-Islamic Arabia
Before the rise of Islam in the 6th century, a form of Arabic was spoken in Arabia and developed as a method of artistic expression. Arabic as an eloquent and rhythmic language was perfect for poetry. Arab society celebrated those with the skill and dexterity to produce beautiful works and poets were often thought to have magical powers. Tribes would compete against tribes during annual festivals in Mecca; battling to see which Sha’ir (Poet) was the finest; who could produce the most perfect rhythmical verses.
There was no formal writing system during pre-Islamic times and the Arabs relied on memorisation and oral transmission to preserve poetic works of art. This tradition is still alive and celebrated today. Although we now have a system for writing Arabic, hundreds of thousands of Muslims around the world take pride in memorising all 114 chapters of the Qur’an. That’s over 77,000 words of Classical Arabic text. This includes Muslims who do not use Arabic as an everyday language such as Pakistanis, Malaysians and even British.
The poetic background of the Arabic language goes some way to explaining why it has the ability to touch my heart and soul. Throughout the ages, poetry has been used to express feelings and evoke emotive responses. In order to captivate and entertain the masses the Arabs focused a lot of time and effort into developing and refining the language. Poetic ability was coveted, representing the prestige and status of tribes. It took bravery and confidence to stand up and challenge established and renowned poets of the time.
So why did an illiterate, simple and honest trader do just that? How and why did he challenge the early Arabs by producing inimitable chapters of verse which changed the shape of the Arabic language forever and gave birth to the Classical Arabic we know today?
I’ll cover that in part 2….
In the meantime, Contact Us if you would like help with understanding Arab Culture or tailoring your marketing materials to mesmerise and captivate Arabic speaking audiences.
